In the field of polymer engineering there is an ever increasing interest in new approaches for producing polymer materials with specific and unique (combinations of) properties, such as enhanced thermal stability, multiphase physical responses, compatibility, impact response, flexibility, and rigidity. One of the recent directions regarding polymer modification is intended to reduce the environmental impact, in particular to improve biodegradability and/or to increase the biobased content.
One obvious way is to produce new polymers using new combinations of existing building blocks or employing specifically developed new biobased building blocks to bring specific properties to the resulting polymer material.
An attractive alternative to the development of new polymers, is the chemical modification of existing polymers. Surface and bulk properties can be improved easily by modifying conventional polymers. Materials produced using such techniques have attracted considerable attention in the industrial field as they can combine a variety of highly distinctive properties. Sometimes, balancing of properties is needed, and this is possible only through modification of polymers. Prime techniques for polymer modifications are grafting, crosslinking, blending, and composite formation.
As will be apparent for those skilled in the art, many modalities for development of new polymers and the modification of known ones depend on the availability of suitable bi- or polyfunctional monomers, which are capable of being incorporated in polymer chains and/or of forming ‘bridges’ within and/or among polymer chains under appropriate conditions. Although the suitability of these monomers for a given purpose primarily depends on the presence of functional groups capable of interacting with reactive groups present in the polymer chains of interest, the structure of the hydrocarbon backbone of the bi- and polyfunctional monomer equally affects important properties. One such property is the compatibility of the monomer with aqueous solvents and/or the ability to be reacted in an aqueous solvent. The interest in polymer systems that can be produced and/or processed in aqueous solvents has rapidly increased over the past decades, as environmental concerns have increased resistance to processes involving the use of (large quantities of) organic solvents. Moreover, for certain applications the use of aqueous solvent systems may be the preferred option simply for technical/chemical reasons.
The synthesis of bi- and polyfunctional monomers is challenging given the reactive nature of the functional groups that need to be incorporated and usually. Ideally ‘platforms’ are developed that make a variety of homofunctional and/or heterofunctional monomers accessible in a practical and cost-effective manner. Naturally, environmental considerations not only play a role in the production and/or processing of polymer systems, but equally so in the production of the monomers as starting materials. Ideally, bi- and polyfunctional monomers are developed that are based on renewable sources rather than on petrochemicals.
Presently known techniques at best constitute a compromise meeting some of these demands and often only to a limited extent. Hence, there is a strong interest in new, preferably biobased, bi- or polyfunctional compounds that have utility in the development of new polymer based materials and there is accordingly a desire for new approaches for their production in an economically feasible and flexible manner.
The present invention seeks to provide solutions to any or all of the aforementioned objectives.